


Shrinking Sides

by HiddenDreamer67



Series: G/t Prompts [16]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Emotions, Feelings, G/T, Giant/Tiny, Shrinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-23 08:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20005261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenDreamer67/pseuds/HiddenDreamer67
Summary: It seems that when one side feels bad, they shrink. However, by the law of communicability, this causes another (or multiple) sides to grow. Logan discovers this when Roman is feeling particularly down in the dumps one day and from there things begin to spiral out of control.





	1. Are you Shorter?

“Knock knock.” Roman said, knocking on Logan’s door. 

“You don’t have to say ‘knock knock’, I heard you perfectly fine.” Logan didn’t look up from his desk. 

“Are you ready to go?” Roman asked, ignoring the logical sides’ comment. “C’mon, I can’t go to the party alone.”

“Yes, Thomas is wise to not let you control his mind out in public after that last incident.” Logan thought back to it and shuddered. 

“It’s not my fault the paint didn’t wash out!” Roman objected. “Besides, Joan’s table looks much better that way.”

“I’m not sure they agree.” Logan stood up with a sigh. Though he loathed to leave his work, it would be better for everyone if he simply left and kept an eye on Roman. “And I still don’t agree with this party business, either. Thomas should be inside studying tonight; his exam is only-”

“We get it, talking textbook.” Roman inspected his nails with a bored expression. “I’m tons of fun, and you’re no fun at all.”

Logan paused, standing next to Roman. An observation he had just made changed Logan’s entire course of thought. “Roman. Are you...shorter?”

“What? What’re you…” Roman’s sentence trailed off as he actually looked up at Logan. “Hold on, did you get taller?”

The idea was ridiculous, of course. All the sides were the exact same height as their host: 5’10”. But one look at the two of them made it obvious that some sort of anomaly was occurring. 

“This way.” Logan grabbed Roman by the wrist, eliciting a ‘hey!’ of protest from the creative side. Logan quickly pushed Roman against the wall, drawing a line just above the top of Roman’s head. Then Logan grabbed a ruler, measuring it against the marking on the wall. 

“Five feet, eight inches.” Logan said breathlessly.

“What? No!” Roman was indignant. “No, that’s not possible, it’s you that’s changing.”

“Ridiculous.” Logan held up the ruler as evidence. “The evidence doesn't lie: it's you.”

“No, it’s not fair!” Roman stomped his foot. “You must be cheating, this is your room. Everything’s just growing with you.”

“Now you’re just being absurd.” Logan rolled his eyes. “But if you require further evidence, I’ll gladly repeat this experiment in your room.” 

“Yes, I would like that very much, you giant oaf.” Roman quickly headed out the doorway towards his room. Logan followed, only to pause as he nearly hit his head on the frame of Roman’s doorway.

...had Roman’s doorway always been so low?

“Here, try again.” Roman handed over another ruler. Logan repeated the procedure, eyes widening at the results. “What? What is it?”

“Roman…” Logan wasn’t sure how to put this. “You seem to have shrunk even further.”

“What?!” Roman looked at the ruler: 5’7”.

“...measure yourself!” Roman said frantically, now biting at his nails to try and keep from panicking. If only to appease him, Logan did so. 

6’1”.

“Now this is odd.” Logan frowned. “I… do seem to have grown.”

“HA!” Roman exclaimed. “You see? I was right! In your face, you Brobdingnagian!”

“Don’t bring Jonathan Swift into this.” Logan scolded, beginning to pace. “I think what’s most odd is the fact that the rate at which you seem to be shrinking seems to be the rate at which I am, well, growing. If we all are usually Thomas’ height, perhaps there is only a certain amount of height to go around.”

“If one of us gets taller, another must get smaller.” Roman realized.

“Precisely.” Logan nodded, stopping in place to face the shorter side.

“Well that’s all well and good, but that still doesn’t explain why this is happening!” Roman protested.

“Did you do anything before you came knocking at my door?” Logan asked.

“No!” Roman snapped. “I think I’d have mentioned it if I had drunk a shrinking potion or something. Like “oh hey Logan, this strange thing is happening. Maybe it’s because I drank from an unidentified flask on the counter!”” 

“Roman. Focus.” Logan put his hands on Roman’s shoulders, and Roman tried not to think about how his palms now completely engulfed his shoulder blades.

“Okay, ah….” Roman rubbed at his temples, looking down at his feet. “Well, I was with Thomas and Virgil getting into a heated argument about whether going out tonight was a good idea. Of course I said yes, but Virgil…” Roman gave a sad sigh. “Mr. Dark and gloomy over there seemed to up the antics tonight, which I’m man enough to admit sent… unpleasant butterflies about in my stomach.”

Logan’s eyes widened. At the mention of Virgil, Logan could literally feel Roman’s shoulders sinking beneath his grasp. 

“What exactly did he say?” Logan pressed.

“He, well,” Roman was hesitant, “he may have... said some unpleasant things in the heat of the moment, that may or may not have been equivalent to ‘you’re the least important side’. Which he apologized for, but-”

“No.” Logan said forcefully, trying to test a hypothesis. “He was right. Thomas doesn’t need you. You're useless.” Roman’s face fell in betrayal. 

And then, all hell broke loose.

Logan’s height shot up, causing the logical side to painfully hit his head on the ceiling. Logan ducked, clutching his head and falling backwards as he lost balance onto a few abandoned art projects littering the floor. Roman was thrown against the wall in the chaos, causing him to groan as he began to reach the average size of an American Girl Doll. 

“What was that for?!” Roman yelled angrily, feeling himself grow an inch or two with rage. He looked around, taking in the hole now present in his ceiling. It completely ruined the mural he had painted up there several years ago.

“I was testing something.” Logan groaned, one hand still cradling his skull. “It seems that your height is directly linked to your ego. “When Virgil fed into your insecurities, your shrinking process began. And when I reinforced those ideas, it accelerated.” Logan winced. “A bit more rapidly than expected, I’ll admit.”

“W-what?” Roman laughed awkwardly. “I’m not insecure!” Roman shrunk another inch.

“Uh huh.” Logan sounded unconvinced. 

“Well, fine, what about you then?” Roman asked, still looking annoyed.

“I suspect it’s mostly to do with preservation of mass and me being the closest target.” Logan theorized. “After all, if there is indeed a normal amount of height to be distributed amongst us all, then it stands to reason as you lost some height, equilibrium was thrown off balance. Although it is also possible that my own growth is also affected by my own ego, as I certainly feel confident in my own abilities when my theories are proven correct.”

“How dare you take pleasure in my lowest hour.” Roman glared up at Logan. He looked past the giant side at the state of his room, furious to see his newest work was destroyed. “And stop crushing my projects!” 

“Roman, there is no where else for me to sit.” Logan said irritably, feeling himself shrink slightly at Roman's outburst. “Your room is a mess. And, thanks to you, I am now unable to even exit this room.”

“...oh.” Roman looked between Logan and his doorway, suddenly realizing the problem. “Well, we can fix this, right?”

“Absolutely.” Logan nodded. “I noticed some fluctuations in the opposite direction when you got passionate. Perhaps if you focused on those emotions than you would be able to reverse this.”

“Alright.” Roman began thinking about his strong desire to punch Logan in the face right now, and how it’d be ever so nice to be back to his normal self. Roman felt himself growing slightly, focusing on the things he was passionate about: Disney. Following dreams. His desire to prove himself.

“Just make sure not to focus on any emotions that may trigger your insecurities again.”

“WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!” Roman yelled exasperatedly, feeling himself shrinking back down to square one. 


	2. Roman needs Hugs

“Logan?” Virgil knocked on the logical side’s door, waiting for an answer. When there was no response, he tried a few more times before pushing the door open. “C’mon buddy, I need you to...uh, Logan?” Virgil frowned, looking around. Logan was nowhere in sight. 

“Hey Roman?” Virgil went to the creative side’s door next, giving it a knock. “Have you seen Logan?”

“I’m in here, Virgil.” Logan’s surprisingly deep voice said in a tired sigh. Virgil opened the door, and his mind immediately forgot what he was going to ask. For in Roman’s room, a  _ giant  _ Logan seemed to be awkwardly sprawled in the middle of the room. “Don’t be alarmed.” Logan instructed, but Virgil’s eyes were already widening as he took a cautious step back.

“...Patton?!” Virgil yelled down the hall. “Could you come here? It’s urgent!” Patton came bursting out of his room at Virgil’s call, nearly tackling Virgil in his enthusiasm.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” Patton asked, to which Virgil just frantically waved in Logan’s direction. Patton’s eyes widened as well. “...oh.” 

“It would seem that Roman and I have made an unfortunate discovery.” Logan explained. 

“Where is Roman?” Patton asked, before looking around the room to spot a doll-sized Creativity. He gasped. “Oh, aren’t you just adorable!” Roman’s face seemed to flush with embarrassment as Logan hit his head on the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“Patton, please refrain from referring to him in derogatory terms.” Logan rubbed his head. “It’s what has found us in this conundrum in the first place.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry Roman!” Patton immediately apologized, putting his hands to his mouth. “You look positively  _ handsome.” _

“Thanks, Padre.” Roman said with a small smile.

“Could someone  _ please  _ explain what’s going on?” Virgil said through gritted teeth, still trying not to panic at the sudden change.

“It seems that when Roman’s ego gets significantly bruised, he shrinks. But when he feels confident or passionate, he grows.” Logan explained. “And when one of us shrinks, another one grows.”

“So you were feeling insecure, Roman?” Patton looked at him with pity.

“I’m not insecure!” Roman protested.

“No, you shouldn’t be!” Patton scrambled up and over Logan’s legs to get to Roman, giving the smaller side a big hug. “You’re amazing, Roman. You’re so talented and special and you bring out the best ideas.” Though the hug was a bit overwhelming for the tiny prince, the praise was certainly welcomed. He could feel his confidence restoring, and with it his height.

“Wait, so we have to compliment Princey to turn everything back to normal?” Virgil clarified as he watched Logan shrink slightly. 

“You can see why it’s been taking a while.” Logan muttered. After all, Logan had never been good at handing out praise.

“You are the best version of creativity we could ever ask for!” Patton continued with a large smile, adjusting his grip slightly to continue his hug as Roman grew. “You are just so sweet and pure and good and happy and wholesome and sweet and lovely and i’m running out of things to say…”

“Uh, Disney.” Virgil jumped in, noticing that Patton was getting distracted. “You know a lot about Disney, and that’s… pretty cool.” Virgil rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Thomas depends on you for so many things.” Patton was happy to note that Roman was nearly back to normal. “You are so incredibly important and we all love you.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t say the  _ most  _ important-” Logan began to speak.

“Not the time, nerd.” Virgil glared at Logan, causing the logical side to promptly shut up. “This isn’t about you. If you hadn’t made Roman insecure in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“As I recall, you were the one who upset him first.” Logan reminded him. Virgil cringed at the memory.

“Is that what this is about?” Virgil turned to Roman. “Look, dude, I’m sorry-”

“Virgil had already apologized.” Roman waved off Virgil’s second apology, almost looking like his normal height again. He marched over, point an accusing finger at Logan. “ _ You,  _ however, took my ego and shattered it on the ground for the sake of your little experiment.”

“Emphasis on little.” Logan said without thinking.

“How dare you use dad jokes to insult our dear Roman!” Patton said with a sad gasp, rushing over to give Roman another hug. 

“Do you really not have one nice thing to say about me?” Roman questioned. “We were in here together for over an hour and yet it took Patton less than two minutes to fix this.” He gestured between the two of them.

“At least I tried to help.” Virgil offered.

“You could stand to be kinder to your fellow sides, Lo.” Patton piped up, looking at Logan. “Maybe it’d be good if Roman helped! He could teach you some more creative ways of expressing your feelings!” Roman swelled a bit with pride.

“He’s already back to normal, Pat, you don’t have to keep inflating his ego.” Virgil said with a smirk.

“I do not need to be taught anything.” Logan looked offended at the suggestion. “I don’t experience emotions and therefore feel no need to express them.”

“C’mon, just try saying one nice thing about Roman.” Patton pressed on. “Anything at all!” Logan stood there, staring at him.

“Oh just forget it Patton.” Roman sighed. “We don’t need him. He’ll just weigh us down at the party anyways.”

“I almost forgot about the party.” Patton’s eyes widened. “All thomas’ friends are going to be there! Let’s go!” Patton and Roman began to run back down the hall.

“Wait!” Virgil frantically chased after them, knowing someone had to keep the more excitable sides in line out in public. 

This left one confused Logan standing alone in Creativity’s room. He glanced up at the holes he had made in the ceiling; had he really been that tall? It was a bit nice being that large, Logan had to admit. Though he could not make it through doorways, it was a welcome change to being consistently ignored. But now that he was back to his normal height, it seemed that everything was back to normal. At least now that Virgil was watching Roman, Logan didn’t need to go to the party. He could stay home and focus on his studies.

The others would be just fine without him. Again.

Logan returned to his room, not noticing that as he passed the doorway his head perfectly aligned with the small 5’8” mark.

  
  



	3. Logan has Emotions

Logan sat back down at his desk, trying to refocus on his studies which had been so rudely interrupted by the night’s shenanigans. The benefit of everyone else being down at the party was that, for once, the mind palace was quiet. It was rare for Logan to ever find silence even in the comfort of his own room, and so he liked to take advantage of these moments before they inevitably were interrupted by one of the other side’s antics.

However, this particular evening Logan could not find the motivation to focus on his studies. Or anything productive, for that matter. Even trying to perfect the schedule for the coming week proved fruitless. All Logan could think about was his exchange with the creative side earlier in the evening.

Logan sighed, closing his eyes. How had he managed to once again prove his own insignificance? Patton had demonstrated it wasn’t difficult. All Logan had to do was indicate a few of Roman’s good attributes. But Logan had tried that- he had pointed out all the obvious facts. Logan had reminded Roman how he was ¼ of Thomas’ beneficial sides and that without Roman, Thomas would likely suffer.

Yet that hadn’t been enough. It was clear that Roman had required more than factual reassurances; he needed emotional support. Someone to reassure him with optimism and compliments rooted in feelings. This, Logan had no chance of providing. It wasn’t logical for Logan to be able to assist then, because matters of the heart were not within his domain. No one should have expected him to be able to help Roman. It wasn’t his fault.

So why did he still feel as though he failed?

Logan began to swing his legs, contemplating this new train of thought. It was certainly strange to think of himself feeling anything, but there was no denying this tightening feeling in his chest. Logan couldn’t pinpoint the exact emotion- Guilt? Jealousy? Regret? - but whatever it was threatened to overwhelm his mind. Logan took a few deep breaths, trying to focus on the tactics he had seen Virgil use in the past.

Logan suddenly stopped swinging his legs. Since when did his legs not reach the floor? Logan opened his eyes and gasped, tumbling out of his chair in shock. When he quickly stood up, Logan noted that he was now at eye level with the surface of his desk, but that the desk seemed to be slowly rising above him.

The logical side frantically scrambled over to the discarded ruler from earlier, trying to measure himself to check the rate at which he was shrinking. Unfortunately, his clouded mind was finding it hard to focus. It was as though a wave had overcome him, and Logan could no longer hold the negative thoughts at bay. He was rapidly reaching a height smaller than even Roman had gotten. Was it possible for him to become so minuscule that the others wouldn’t even be able to view him with the naked eye? If that happened, would anyone even notice he was gone?

No, Logan shook his head at the thought. The others were bound to notice what happened as at least one of them was sure to grow. They would know what happened to him; whether they would miss him was another issue entirely.

Logan let out a frightened yelp as he shrunk further at this depressing train of thought. He couldn’t let these emotions get the better of him; he was logic, and logic should not be influenced by passing feelings!

But what could he do? Clearly he needed to be grounded, much like Virgil would need during a panic attack. Perhaps not so far as a shower of compliments like Patton had given Roman, although it likely wouldn’t hurt. Yes, it was becoming increasingly clear that this was not an issue he could solve alone. It would at least be beneficial to get the other’s involvement so that they could try and prevent any further episodes of this nature.

Logan ran over to his bedroom door, now realizing just how high above his head the knob now was. He took a running leap at it and missed entirely. A second and third attempt failed as well. The fourth attempt Logan finally managed to catch hold, but his weight was not enough to get the blasted mechanism to turn. With a small cry of frustration, Logan felt his grip slipping and he fell painfully onto the carpeted floor below. 

Logan groaned, moving closer to the door. What was the point, anyways? It’s not like he could let Thomas see him like this, he’d just see how infinitesimal Logan truly was. Logan would lose the last shred of respect he still had within the group. In fact, perhaps it would be best not to bother any of the sides with this conundrum. Was it really worth becoming the laughing stock of the mind palace? No one was going to take him seriously when he could be coddled and viewed like a marionette come to life. 

No, it was best that Logan just stay here. He could deal with this himself; he had to, or else it would just prove how useless he had become. The others dealt with emotions on a daily basis. If Logan wasn’t able to do the same, then he would be forever one step behind. 

Logan sat back against the door, trying not to indulge in the feelings of self-pity, tempting as they were. They would surely dwindle his height even further. 

It was then that the floor began to shake, and with the addition of loud, booming laughter Logan realized with a jolt that the mini earthquake was merely a side effect of his fellow sides returning.

“-was so much fun!” Patton sounded slightly out of breath but incredibly joyful.

“It was, surprisingly not….awful.” Even Virgil admitted. 

“I’m glad you came with us, kiddo.” Patton said. “It’s good for you to get out! And I think Logan enjoys getting a break.”

“You know what, we make a pretty good team!” Roman said enthusiastically. “We’re like the three amigos.” 

“Yeah!” Patton agreed. “We should do this again! It’d be great!”

“Just the three of us.” Roman repeated. 

Logan buried his head in his knees. He tried to keep his thinking logical, but those pesky emotions began to creep in and twist around his mind as he tried to sort out the facts: They had an enjoyable evening. Logan was not present and they had an enjoyable, productive evening. He was unnecessary for them to find joy. They wished to have more evenings free of his presence in this same manner. He was not needed. He was not wanted. 

He was useless.

  
  



	4. Ignoring the Problem

Patton, Virgil, and Roman dashed up the stairs back to the mind palace hallway, only stopping to catch their breath at the top. 

“That was so much fun!” Patton giggled. He had thought it might be difficult to have a good time at the party with Virgil having to work with Thomas’ social anxiety the whole time, but for the evening Virgil had decided to turn it down a notch. 

“That was, surprisingly not...awful.” Virgil admitted, his usually chill demeanor melting a bit to show a small smile. 

“I’m glad you came with us, kiddo.” Patton said sincerely, throwing his arms around Virgil in a quick hug. “It’s good for you to get out! And I think Logan enjoys getting a break.” The three of them briefly shot a look toward Logan’s door, but even the logical side couldn’t get them down right now.

“You know what, we make a pretty good team!” Roman threw his arms around both their shoulders, although Virgil was quick to duck out of this gesture. “We’re like the three amigos!” 

“Yeah, we should do this again!” Patton smiled at Roman as Virgil started to retreat to his room, seeming to have reached his social limit for the night. “It’d be great!”

“Just the three of us-” Roman looked ready to continue on, but a loud thud stopped him.

“Ow!” Virgil clutched his forehead, looking annoyed.

“Virgil, what happened?” Patton asked, coming over to inspect Virgil’s injury.

“I’m fine, Pat.” Virgil assured him. “I just hit my head on my doorway, is all.”

“You did?” Patton frowned, remembering the events from earlier in the day. Eyes widening, Patton rushed over to embrace Roman in a huge hug. “Roman, you’re amazing and I love you!”

“Uh, thank you?” Roman said, clearly confused. 

“...wait a second.” Patton pulled away, looking at Roman. He held up a hand to compare his height to Roman’s, noticing that Roman was still at eye level. “You’re not short.”

“Yes, thank you.” Roman rolled his eyes. “We took care of that earlier, remember?”

“Yeah, you don’t need to keep coddling him.” Virgil smirked. But Patton still looked uneasy. He went over to Virgil, now comparing his height as well.

“How’re you feeling, Virgil?” Patton asked. 

“Fine?” Virgil repeated, watching Patton’s hand move over his head and then back to Patton’s head as it tried to decide if the anxious side was taller. “I told you, I just hit my head…”

“But why did you hit your head?” Patton pressed on. 

“Because I’m an idiot?” Virgil offered. Patton made a small noise of protest at this answer.

“Patton, relax.” Roman assured him, walking over to join the two. “We’re all the same height, see? No need to worry.”

Patton actually looked  _ down  _ at the top of the doorway as he inspected it. His frown deepened. “We may be the same height kiddos, but we’re not our height.”

“But then what…?” Virgil trailed off, the two of them turning to look in the direction of Logan’s room. Roman followed their gaze, raising an eyebrow.

“What, you’re serious?” Roman questioned. “You think microsoft nerd is feeling down in the dumps? He’s never felt anything in his life!”

“Maybe it’s us, then?” Virgil said with a shrug. “I mean, Logan wasn’t really feeling anything before, but he still grew because of you.”

“Oh, so because we actually  _ went out _ and had a good time and feel good about ourselves, unlike a certain recluse,” Roman said, a bit cockily with a pointed look towards Logan’s door once again. “We got a height boost.”

“Gotta say, this is the first time in a while I’ve not been the recluse.” Virgil smirked. “Or that i’ve felt good about myself. Not surprised that something bad came out of it.”

“I will physically fight you.” Patton scolded. There were already enough negative emotions floating around the mind palace; Patton could feel them. 

“Well, isn’t that how we’ll return things to normal?” Roman offered. “Talking bad about ourselves? If that makes us shrink, that should do the trick. Although it’s going to be hard to come up with anything bad about myself, of course.”

“You were literally a foot tall this morning because you couldn’t stop beating yourself up.” Virgil reminded him. “I think you’ll be fine.” Roman sent him a glare.

“No, no more negativity.” Patton said sternly. “All we have to do is get Logan feeling good about himself then, and then we’ll all be back to normal!”

“But Logan’s not a  _ feeling _ .” Roman insisted. “There’s no way we’re breaking through that robotic interior any time soon to get any  _ real  _ emotions.”

“And Logan’s ego is not something that needs to be inflated.” Virgil spoke up. “He already acts stuck-up as it is.”

“I say, we just sleep this off.” Roman offered. “By the morning we should be back to normal. And if we’re not, we can deal with it then.” Virgil nodded.

“But-” 

“Patton.” Virgil pulled morality off to the side, speaking quietly so Roman couldn’t hear. “Even if you’re right, I doubt Logan wants us to see him like this. It’ll just bruise his ego more. The best thing we can do is give him some space.” Patton still looked unsure, so Virgil continued. “I know you just want to help, but not everybody wants compliments and cuddles when they’re feeling down. Logan’s the kind of guy who wants to be able to pull himself up by his bootstraps. So give him a chance to at least try, alright?”

“...alright.” Patton sighed, seeing Virgil’s point. That didn’t mean he had to like it, though.

“Great!” Roman clapped his hands together, looking pleased. “Then it’s settled. I’ll see you all in the morning!” Roman turned to enter his room, only to also hit his head on the doorway. He muttered a few curses, ducking down and out of sight before closing the door behind him. Virgil was more careful, this time entering his own room without gaining another bruise. 

This left Patton alone in the hallway. He understood what Virgil was saying, but he couldn’t help but think that...maybe Virgil was wrong. It wouldn’t hurt to at least offer to help, right?

Very quietly, Patton gave a small knock on Logan’s door.

“Logan?” Patton called out. “May I come in?” There was no answer, so Patton just continued to speak through the door. “I know you might be feeling some...things right now, and I want you to know that they’re normal. If you let me come in, maybe I can help?” 

Patton sighed at the silence that greeted him.

“You don’t have to deal with everything alone, you know.” Patton said quietly, not even sure if his voice could be heard on the other side of the door. 

….

“Goodnight, Logan.” Patton gave the door a small wave goodbye, heading back to his room as the feeling of unease in his chest only continued to grow.


	5. Let Us In

The next morning at breakfast, when their sizes had not been reversed as Roman predicted, tensions were high. It certainly didn’t help that the three tall sides kept bumping into furniture, unaware of their increased height.

“Has anybody seen the nano nerd yet?” Roman glanced at the other two, watching as Patton drummed his fingers anxiously on the table and Virgil tried to maneuver around the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

“Oh, yes, Logan’s doing just fine.” Virgil rolled his eyes. “That’s why I’m still trying to make coffee out of a thimble.”

“Pretty large for a thimble.” Patton glanced at the coffee pot. Though it was dwarfed by Virgil’s hand, it was still larger than a thimble would be. More like the size of a teacup.

Roman narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if Virgil was being serious or not. “You’re a horrible liar. I’ve known you far too long to be able to tell.”

“It’s not lying, it’s just sarcasm.” Virgil argued, his hand shaky as he tried to balance the container. With a bit too much pressure, the glass shattered, and Virgil quickly pulled his hand away from the mess.

“Virgil!” A concerned Patton was at his side in moments, grabbing a hand towel that looked more like a washcloth and dabbing away at the mess. 

“Are you alright?” Roman asked, looking at the small cut on Virgil’s hand. The anxious side clenched his fist, looking tense.

“Alright, enough is enough.” Virgil growled, peeved after hitting his hip on the corner counter for the third time. He stormed down the hall, his stomping shaking a few of the picture frames.

“Be gentle, Virgil!” Patton warned, rushing after him. Roman was hot on his heels. Virgil paid them no attention, raising a fist to the door and pounding on it.

“HEY!” Virgil yelled, his voice becoming extra dark and foreboding in his irritation. “KNOCK IT OFF!”

There was no verbal response, but the group each individually felt themselves grow a few centimeters. 

“Oh, well done, Goliath.” Roman rolled his eyes. “You’re scaring him.”

“Come on, this is Logan!” Virgil argued. “He doesn’t get scared!” Despite his words, Virgil took a step away from the door, slightly remorseful.

“I think this might require a  _ gentler  _ touch.” Roman tilted his chin towards Patton. “Pat, you’re up.”

Patton nodded, taking a step forwards and gently knocking on the wood. “Logan? Kiddo? You in there?”

Virgil glanced at the group of them, realizing how strange this situation was- what kind of person had personified personality traits with size-based ego issues?

“Thomas really needs a therapist.” Virgil muttered, watching Patton continue to try and coax the small logical side out.

“I’m saying this because I care about you.” Patton continued, his voice almost a coo. “We’re here to help, okay Lo-lo?”

“I’m sorry, since when is he “Lo-lo”?” Roman hid a snort behind his hand, while Virgil wrinkled his nose in disgust. Patton gave them a brief glare over his shoulder, turning back to Logan’s door.

“Logan, please, just come out.” Patton pleaded. “We just want to help you.”

There was a long bout of silence, and thinking he wasn’t going to get a response, Patton slowly began to retreat away from the door.

“...I can’t.”

At the sound of the quiet voice, three large ears were immediately pressed against the door.

“You  _ can’t? _ ” Roman repeated. “Well why not?”

“...I cannot reach the door handle.”

Patton glared at his fellow sides, giving them a look that said  _ ‘Don’t you dare laugh’  _ as they both held amused smirks.

“Alright, then can we come in?” Patton asked.

Another pause.

“Logan?” Roman called out. “It’s me, Roman.”

“I know, Roman.”

“You don’t have to deal with everything alone.” Roman explained, his voice going uncharacteristically soft. “You know that, right? We may poke fun at you quite an awful lot, but that’s only because you’re very easy to tease. You’re just as crucial to Thomas as the rest of us, and if you’re having these emotional issues, we would be honored to assist you.” 

“Aww, Roman, that’s so sweet!” Patton cooed.

“I do not require any assistance.” Logan’s voice had a certain bite too it that wasn’t there before.

“Oh, please.” Virgil rolled his eyes. “You’re, what, a couple inches tall? You certainly didn’t grow any over the night. Just suck it up, swallow your pride and accept our help already.”

“Virgil-” Patton’s warning tone was cut off by another argument from the anxious side.

“What? It’s true.” Virgil looked down at Patton, pressed to the door beneath him. “Logan’s too stubborn for his own good.”

“Is not!” Patton insisted. 

“Is too.” Virgil smirked.

“Is too,  _ too _ .” Roman seconded the motion. 

“You are all acting like children.” Though Logan was insulting them, he seemed to be improving. The other three sides could feel their heights beginning to decrease.

“Does that mean we can come in?” Patton asked hopefully.

“...yes, you may enter.” Logan, despite his words, sounded hesitant.

“Good, because we were gonna come in anyway.” Virgil admitted, earning him a smack on the arm from Patton.

Roman straightened up, grabbing the door handle. He slowly turned it, pushing the wooden door open and letting his gaze slowly fall down to the floor. His eyes widened. 

“Wow, you’re so small.”


End file.
